Shifted Scars: A Wolves of Forest Grove Novel

by Lawson, Elena

  “Get a room,” Viv teased, and Jared broke the kiss, leaving me to glare at my best friend.

  She smirked before passing me the matching blade to go with the ceremonial bowl.

  “Are we waiting for Clay?” Jared asked, running a finger down the side of my neck in the way that he knew drove me insane until I shied away, giving him an accusing look to which he just chuckled.

  “No need,” Clay grunted, appearing as though from nowhere like he always did. For a guy his size, he was insanely light on his feet. If it weren’t for our mate bond tugging at my core whenever he was near, he’d scare the ever-loving shit out of me on a daily basis.

  As it was, he still did sometimes, but only when I was distracted. Like when I was just kissing my other mate.

  “Great, we’re all here then. I’ll grab the guys.”

  Viv fled to go and wrangle the newbies while Clay, barefoot and bare chested, in only a pair of dark jean shorts, dropped my book bag onto my lap.

  He ran a hand through his tousled black hair, clearing his throat as he fell into the chair next to mine.

  “How’s it going at the pub?” Jared asked, starting a conversation with his best friend and removing his hands from my body, making a muscle twitch in my jaw and a hollow feeling settle in my gut.

  As they bantered back and forth with me between them, we reverted to what I dubbed stasis mode. At first, when we decided it was time to stop trying to fight our instincts and take the relationships to the next level, it seemed like I was going to be able to have it all. Both of my mates. The three of us together in the way that I desperately craved.

  That was not how it happened though. They tried at first, but in the end, their territorial instinct made it almost impossible. Especially when sex was put on the table.

  Their inner wolves couldn’t be subdued, plus, I suspected, on some level, it was also to do with the very human notion that you’re not supposed to share a lover. But who the fuck came up with that rule, anyway?

  If what I felt for both of my mates was unnatural, then I didn’t want to be natural.

  I’d have fought their decision to keep things separate. I wanted to, but I wouldn’t risk putting any more strain on their friendship than there already was.

  I could wait.

  As long as it wasn’t forever.

  Layla rushed in with Seth from their patrol, both of them ass naked, as several others were, preferring to remain in the nude to allow for easier shifting back and forth. Seth made a beeline for the beer keg and Layla came to greet the three of us.

  “All clear,” she reported, her long dark hair covering her nipples as she settled herself onto a stool by the fire.

  It always was these days. I was so glad to be done with the constant trespasses on our land. They’d happened frequently when I first took over as alpha. Mostly spurred by curiosity. There hadn’t ever been a female alpha. And there definitely hadn’t ever been one who had mated to two other shifters and sported two tails.

  Vivian walked Archer and Callum into the ring, putting her fingers to her lips to give one of her signature ear-splitting whistles to get everyone’s attention.

  I rose and tucked my books away behind the chair, as far from the fire as I could get them and lifted the bowl and dagger from the stump where Viv had left them.

  Shaking off my unease, I walked them to the cleared area where Viv waited with them. Clay, Jared, and Layla on my heels. Charity fell in line behind them, standing in as the fourth official witness.

  Callum grinned widely, stretching the skin of the gnarly scar in his cheek. Somehow, it didn’t diminish his good looks, but rather seemed to almost enhance them—give them an edge to make him look just as intimidating as his massive mate.

  “You know the words?” I asked them, accepting Viv’s help as she stepped forward and took the bowl from my hand, holding it out to me as I put my hand over it, readying the blade.

  They both nodded and the gathering quieted. The air still, save for the rush of heat from the fire and crackle of the wood burning.

  “Of my own will I enter into this pack,” they said as one, their eyes betraying no hint of uncertainty.

  One after another, they spoke the final binding words.

  “With the moon and all in attendance here as witnesses, I hereby submit myself to the rule of the alpha.”

  I sliced the blade into the flesh of my palm, grimacing as my blood dripped down to mix with the whiskey in the bowl. The stream slowed and stopped a moment later, the wound already healed, leaving only an annoying itch behind.

  I took the bowl from Viv, trading it for the blade, and gave it first to Archer for a drink, and then Callum.

  Closing my eyes, I felt the connection form like a growing thing inside of me. Like another branch of a tree, or perhaps a new root sinking deeper into the earth. I sighed as the sensation passed, my wolf hedging to the surface to greet her new kin, her twin souls flushed with raw energy vying for release.

  “Welcome to the pack,” I told them, and they shared a look, embracing as cheers and whoops rose all around. Foamy beer sprayed in our direction, and I lifted an arm to shield my face from the brunt of it as Viv clapped the new recruits on the backs and called for a round of shots.

  I’d have to tell them the rest tomorrow unless someone else spilled the beans first. I wished I could explain it all up front, before they joined the pack, but no one outside of this territory knew and we liked to keep it that way.

  Much like how Grams’ blindness gave her the ability of a different form of sight, my twin soul afforded me some...perks. Depending on how you looked at it.

  The magic of the other races could hold no sway over me. I couldn’t be compelled by a vampire. Or bespelled by a witch. When I became alpha of the pack, those abilities became shared by all who blooded in.

  We didn’t even realize it’d happened until someone got really hurt. She was a relatively new wolf. Just changed a few months before, a victim of one of the shifters I cut loose when I took over. She wasn’t healing quickly enough on her own, and like the pack had done on many occasions before, we took her to Stella, the witch who lived alone at the edge of town, and offered her money or favors in exchange for her help.

  Only, Stella couldn’t heal her. Just like she couldn’t heal me. The girl’s body rejected the potions. Repelled her cast spells.

  The girl died on her table.

  It was a good thing we’d realized the change soon after I became alpha or we would’ve had a boon of shifter babies running rampant on our territory. We were back to good old human methods of birth control now, the pill in particular being the only usable kind since we could no longer take the once monthly witchy alternative the pack had used for generations prior.

  So as a whole, we all agreed the perks outweighed the pitfalls. There was a reason we were more careful now. Careful who we allowed to join. Careful who we allowed to be cut loose.

  Stella would keep quiet; I didn’t think she even spoke to other people, mortal or immortal, but if the vampires or witches found out…

  Well, our pack agreed that in this case, different was good, but the others wouldn’t see it that way. Shifters who were immune to their magic? Immune to compulsion? There was a good chance they’d want us gone.

  Which was precisely why I didn’t want a fucking high and mighty alchemist prick running around my town asking questions.

  “Hey,” Jared said, dragging me back to the present. I flinched as his hand pressed to my lower back and a worried crease formed between his brows. “What’s up?”

  Before I could come up with a reply, Clay stood with a grunt, downing the rest of his beer in one long swallow before tossing the cup into a bin. “I’m heading out for patrol,” he announced, his cold blue eyes alighting on Jared’s hand on my waist as he passed.

  “Be careful,” I blurted before I could stop the words from coming out, earning myself a raised brow and a smirk from the big oaf before he gave his head a shake.


  He curled two fingers at Charity behind me. “Let’s move.”

  Charity groaned as she passed. “Rest in peace legs,” she muttered to herself, making Layla laugh and Jared and me grin.

  We had to switch out who had to run patrol with Clay every night because he set a punishing pace and refused to slow down, expecting everyone to keep up no matter how much their bodies protested.

  I was the only one he didn’t enjoy running with, because I was the only one who could beat his ass in speed and strength.

  Thank you twin soul.

  Once Clay and Charity vanished into the tree line, I sagged against Jared, giving in to the comfort of his touch. He brushed a hand down my back, and I nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his scent of smooth cedar and musk.

  “Take me to bed,” I whispered into the hollow beneath his chin. As alpha, there was always something I was worried about. New builds at pack camp, keeping everyone fed and happy, maintaining all three rings of our territory at all times.

  And now a stupid motherfucking witch.

  I sighed, needing the one thing that always worked to ease the tension and send me sailing off into a solid sleep.

  Jared shuddered at my light touch on his chest, catching my hand before I could trail it too low and pressing it against his lips.

  “Your wish is my command,” he replied in a husky whisper against my fingertips, making my belly squeeze.

  I let out a little yelp as he swung me up into his arms, his eyes brightening with the presence of his wolf. I could feel it rumbling against the cage of his chest, a low growl that was echoed within me as he carried me away from the bonfire to a chorus of hoots and hollers.

  Nothing was private here. Did you know arousal has a very distinct scent? Different for both males and females, but once I learned to identify it, I could see what they were talking about. And right now? I was sure I reeked of it.

  Jared spirited me through the cabin and upstairs with ease, kicking the bedroom door shut behind him.

  I reached for him, but he was already there, dipping his head low to steal a kiss from my lips as he lowered me to the rumpled blankets. His hands moved to my hips, and I lifted for him, letting him hook his fingers into the loops of my jeans to drag them off.

  The kiss broke as he tugged my shirt over my head, and he laid a trail of hot kisses down my neck, brushing the inside curves of my breasts as he moved lower.

  His touch sent shivers skating over my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake as I moaned, digging my hands into his soft hair, needing something to hold on to.

  My wolf prowled within, her eagerness to be joined with her mate so strong it made my head spin as Jared gripped me by my thighs. He pulled them apart, lowering himself to his knees on the floor at the edge of the bed.

  “Jared.” I gasped as he pressed his lips to my inner thigh, driving me wild with anticipation as he teased my panties away from the heat of my sex.

  I released his hair, reaching for something else to hold on to as he settled his mouth over my sex, making my hips buck as his tongue slid over my clit. My hands fisted in the sheets, my nails elongating in a way that I knew would leave holes in them, but I didn’t care.

  Jared’s tongue drove all impeaching thoughts from my mind, and when his fingers dug into the muscle of my thighs, holding me open even as I tried to squirm, I knew I was nearing the edge.

  So close.

  So close.

  Jared’s tongue slowed, bringing me back from the edge and making me cry out. In one swift movement, he lifted my hips, rising from his knees and thrusting until the length of him was buried deep in my throbbing sex.

  “Fuck!” I shouted, stars bursting against the dark curtain of my eyelids as I reveled in the glorious fullness of having him seated inside me.

  I wrapped my legs around his hips, locking him to me as he began to thrust against me. He groaned at his own ecstasy as my sex clenched around him, and the small sound only drove me wilder. Frantically, I moved my hips, meeting him stroke for stroke as he pumped into me.

  When he added his fingers to the mix, rubbing my clit as he gripped me hard with his other hand to hold me in place, I knew I was a goner.

  “That’s it,” he panted in the dark, his eyes glowing a steady, scorching amber in the dark. “Come for me, Allie.”

  Knowing he was close to his own release shoved me over the edge, and I went with him, plummeting into oblivion as he fell over me. We howled our release in a tangle of shuddering limbs. In that moment, there was nothing but me and Jared. No problems to solve. No witches to burn. Just us. Just this moment.

  He cuddled me to his heaving chest, kissing me on the forehead as he drew the sheet up around my back. “I love you,” he breathed into my hair, making a new warmth grow in my chest. I squeezed him tight.

  “I think you’re pretty cool, too,” I muttered, eyes growing heavy already. His chest shook with quiet laughter, and I smiled, feeling more at peace than I had in days.

  I pressed a sleepy kiss to his chest. “Love you more.”

  4

  The first rays of morning sunlight woke me, streaming in through the window to pool over Jared’s toned chest and caress the side of his face.

  Making him look every bit the angel he was. My guardian angel. He always had been. Even after the betrayal of his uncle, when he went dark for a while, he never missed an opportunity to make me feel safe. Loved.

  I carefully slid out of his grasp, distributing my weight so I wouldn’t jostle the mattress too much. He still had a few hours until he needed to leave for the quarry to check on things. Even though I knew the light wouldn’t wake him—hardly anything could rouse him when he was this deeply asleep—I slid the curtains closed, peering outside to check for Clay first.

  Sometimes after a patrol he would go sleep in the studio above Grove’s End. Most nights, though, especially in summer, he preferred to nestle in the shrubbery below the window and sleep in his wolf form.

  I didn’t blame him. I’d joined him a few times, in fact, and had to admit it was just as comfortable as the bed. Maybe even more so with the soft breeze and forest sounds lulling you to sleep.

  But he wasn’t there.

  I rustled around in my closet for something to throw on, settling on a Banner’s t-shirt and my already worn twice but not dirty enough to wash yet jean shorts. The ones that Clay could never stop staring at my ass when I wore.

  It went without saying that it made them my favorite ones.

  Something pricked at my senses as I slipped my cell into my back pocket and made my way downstairs. My hackles rose, and my wolf surged to the surface. There wasn’t anyone foreign in the cabin, I’d have sensed them. Only the regular scents of the pack and the container of chocolate chip cookies Grams left on the counter for me greeted my nose in the main living area.

  “Allie!” Vivian called from somewhere far off outside, and I was immediately put on high alert, my blood singing with the urge to shift as I raced out the door, clearing the porch and steps in two bounds. My hands turned to clawed daggers at my sides.

  Protect, my wolf snarled within.

  Kill.

  Frantically, I scanned the dead campfire ring, finding it and the cabins beyond it quiet.

  I sensed her approach from my right and took off into the trees like a bolt loosed from my bow. “Viv!” I hollered, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. If she were hurt…

  A mental image of Gregory the witch choking on his own blood as my teeth sank into his jugular flashed through my thoughts before her scent hit me.

  Not Vivian’s.

  I slowed, seeing them walking toward me. Vivian and Archer with a girl between them.

  Vivian’s eyes met mine with an apology. “I was just showing Arch the ropes and…” She trailed off, gesturing at the girl with the familiar dark hair.

  Her scent reached me at about the same time my wolf recognized her as unclaimed, and she lifted her head to meet my gaze head on.

  “Sam?�
� I asked, incredulous. It’d been four years, but I would know that bone structure—those eyes—anywhere. They were traits she shared with her brother. My mate. Clay.

  Her lips pressed into a thin line as her gaze roamed over my body, no doubt taking note of the scars and the way the new muscle bulked up my frame. The last time she’d seen me I’d just killed Ryland. The former pack alpha. Her mate.

  I’d been only eighteen then. A scrawny, anxiety ridden teenager with turquoise hair and not a clue what I was doing other than trying to protect the people I cared about.

  Though where I’d filled out, grown the turquoise out of my hair in favor of embracing the silvery color inherited from my mom, she didn’t seem to have fared so well since she’d walked out on this pack.

  I didn’t begrudge her leaving. I couldn’t, not knowing how it would tear me apart to lose either of my mates. But I did blame her for trying to kill me before she went.

  “It’s been a while,” she said as though we were old friends instead of…whatever the hell we were.

  Her cheeks looked sallow, and her eyes dark rimmed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they almost seemed bruised. Once, I’d been envious of her curves, but now, standing before me in her birthday suit, I could see that the world hadn’t been kind to her.

  Her muscle and flesh clung to her bones so tightly that I was afraid if she didn’t get a drink of water soon she would begin to prune.

  “What are you doing here, Samantha?”

  Her upper lip curled at my use of her full name but her wolf remained confined within. Not so much as a spark rising to her bright blue eyes.

  Her head dropped, making her messy dark hair fall forward to shield her face. Her shoulders shook. “I...I didn’t know where else to go.”

  My lips parted, but I didn’t know what to say. My fingernails were digging half-moons into my palms and my wolf still called for blood, making my ability to stay level headed shaky at best.

  “Look,” Sam snapped, seeming to get a hold on her emotions. Flipping the switch from poor me to fuck you in an instant.

  “I just want to see my brother, okay? I’m...I’m sorry for what I did,” she gritted out through bared teeth. “Just let me see him, and then you can chase me out of your territory if that’s what you want.”